


Dance With Me

by TheBigLoserQueen



Series: Fantasy AU [23]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Ball, Ballroom, Cute, Elves, Embarrassment, Fluff, Gen, Height Differences, Het, Human, Interspecies Relationship(s), Ogres, Party, Size Difference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 09:43:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7752673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBigLoserQueen/pseuds/TheBigLoserQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bloodshed gets the courage to ask Thornstriker to dance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dance With Me

Another stupid gala at the palace... How many had there been this year?

Bloodshed looked around for anything suspicious in the crowd.  Nothing.  Again.  Bored out of his mind, the Captain of the Guard slowly sighed as he adjusted his footing.

"Losing your sanity again, Bloodshed?"

"Shut up Nova."

His friend wasn't even trying to look professional as he snacked on some fish hors d'oeuvre.  Damn idiot had been snacking all night without stopping.  Was it possible for him to just not stuff himself full of food in the middle of a job?

But knowing Novabomb for years, him keeping crumbs off his uniform was a miracle in itself.  At least he had stopped flirting with all the hot young ogres that came in.  Thank Primus Mirage was a jealous lover who was more than willing to kick his lover to the couch for a month if he so much as glanced at the wrong ogre.

Dealing with a Novabomb that was crying and horny wasn't his favorite pastime, but it had taught the man a lesson.  So now he was more tolerable during these galas.

Not tolerable.  Just more bearable than before.

"Hey, Bloodshed.  I think your girl is looking kind of lonely."

Bloodshed glanced up to see Thornstriker sitting across the way at a chairs with a few other elves. They were all chatting, sipping sweet wine as the party went out in front of them... But Novabomb was right. She did look bored. Not that he didn't understand. He wasn't a fan of parties either. He was only here to keep watch, though his father had told him to relax and have fun.

What was so great about these galas anyway? Every time he would attend them and had to pretend to enjoy himself, annoying noblemen and women would always try to chat with him about pointless shit he didn't care about. The prude noblewomen were a little more tolerable, if only for the fact that they would at the very least let him speak whenever they asked questions. The noblemen though...

Fuck, how he loathed being Bombrush's son. If it wasn't for him... he doubted anyone would care about his existence. But he knew. He knew that, because he was Bombrush's son, fairly attractive, and Captain of the Guard, noblemen wanted him. Well, more like wanted him as their son-in-law. Try to wrangle him into a marriage with one of their spoiled daughters and move themselves up in the king's court.

Idiots. All of them. He had no interest in those girls. Not now, not ever. Especially not when he had affections for... someone else.

"You know, if you just let everyone know you're into someone, maybe they'll stop throwing their daughters at you."

Bloodshed glared at the other, which only made him back up into grabbing another hors d'oeuvre  from another servant's tray.

"I'm serious.  If everyone knows you're itching for the elf girl, they'll stop pestering you."

"Like that will fucking stop them," Bloodshed muttered under his breath.

"But it might..." Novabomb stuffed his face with the cheese and cracker dish before licking his fingers (with his gloves on, ugh), "It might give most of them the message." 

Bloodshed ignored him as he looked across the room again.  He saw nothing again and his gaze ended up going to Thornstriker again.  Some of her elf companions had moved on to others to talk to or taking the dive to dance with some of the ogre noblemen (and noblewoman in one case), leaving the poor elf to look around with glum while she tried not to entertain herself by drinking down her wine. 

He had only talked with her a bit, but he had watched her at these enough times to know that she was not a heavy drinker.  And social norm did not lean kindly on those who drank safely at these galas, so she would have to keep drinking if she finished a glass.

There was no way he was letting her get drunk enough for some bastard to try and whisk her away into a dark corner...

"Dude, just go talk to her if you're gonna stare at her all night."

"I'm not staring at her."

"Yes you are," Novabomb had acquired another bite-sized cheese dish and stuffed that into his mouth, "If'vs eally stufid-"

"Swallow first."

Nearly chocking on his food, Novabomb let out a giggle before he leaned into Bloodshed's space, "It's going to be obvious your attention is being drawn to someone and these noblemen are going to sniff it out like vultures."

Bloodshed grimaced, stealing another glance at Thornstriker. He knew Novabomb had a point. Noblemen were never ones to play fair... And though they knew better than to threatening elves due to the treaty, they weren't just going to let any elf get in their way of their goal. Which in this case was getting him to agree to marry one of their daughters. And if they knew he had any feelings for another woman, ogress or elf, they wouldn't take too well too that.

He reached up to rub his eyes. Trying to go back to work wasn't an option. Nobles had already seen him and they would no doubt hunt him down for "conversation." And he did not want to suffer through that again...

Just going up and talking to Thornstriker wasn't as easy as it sounded though. Well, it should have been, but... He was nervous. It was ridiculous, he was never nervous, especially not when talking to a young woman, of all things. But... She wasn't like anyone he had ever met. She wasn't an ogress or some random whore throwing herself at him. She was a beautiful elf that... he had a crush on. And he had never had these feelings for anyone before, so he couldn't act apathetic or bored about it. He didn't want to be rude.

But he didn't want to be awkward either. They had only chatted a handful of times, so he had no idea if she even felt comfortable around him. He knew that his neutral face generally made him appear as if he were pissed off or glaring at someone, often times scaring people... Was she also intimidated by him? Did she also find him frightening? He wouldn't be surprised if she did, but still...

He swallowed, looking up at her again. She was starting to finish up her glass... It was now or never, if he wanted to talk to her tonight. Before she left, before some other man came up to her and asked for a dance. Primus, he was acting like a kid...

Novabomb smiled brightly as he watched his friend push off the wall to make his way towards the elf. "Hurry up and score!"

Bloodshed glared at him over his shoulder, only to see the guard hold two thumbs up with that stupid grin on his face. He was going to hit him one day, he swore to Primus...

He could feel eyes on him.  He knew there were some noblemen and their daughters who wanted to speak to him, but when he wasn't static, when he was moving, albeit slowly and maybe awkwardly cautious, they didn't bother him.  Maybe they knew he had to do something, to not get in his way.

Half of him wanted one of them to stop him, or try to, so he wouldn't have to do this.  But the half that didn't want them to and wanted to get to Thornstriker as quickly as his awkward self could do in a social acceptable form was winning out.

Which was why he was now in front of her, standing over her as her blue eyes looked up into his own red ones with confusion.

"...Hello, Lady Thornstriker."  That could have gone better in so many different ways.  Why the fuck did he think this was a good idea?

"O-Oh!  H-Hello Sir Bloodshed." She readjusted her posture and glass before looking back up at him again, "H-How are you this evening?"

"Well." He was having trouble finding the right words to say.  He could feel everyone watching, looking at him and Thornstriker.  Every word he was saying at this moment was being scrutinized by everyone in hearing range before being passed around by the gossipers.  "How has your evening been?"

"Oh, it's been all right," she said, putting down her glass. She was glad she didn't have to drink anymore of it... While she did like wine, she didn't like to drink too much of it. But that was all there was for her to do at these balls when her friends went off elsewhere. "The wine and food have been good."

He nodded, daring to glance around the room. Shit, people were looking at them, elves and ogres alike. It made sense, though, he supposed. It wasn't often he started conversations, especially not with people outside of his small group of friends. And especially not with young pretty women...

"Well, I... I'm glad you've been enjoying the food," he managed to mutter out awkwardly.

She only nodded in response before they fell into silence.

Bloodshed felt himself starting to sweat. Shit, he should have thought this out better. He wanted to talk to her, but he didn't even know what to talk about! He wasn't like his father, who could keep a conversation going for hours, no matter the person. Hell, he could even talk to General Soundwave all day long, despite the woman doing everything in her power to ignore him. How he did, Bloodshed didn't know and had never had an interest in asking. Until now anyway.

He had to do something. Anything! Just so that this awkward silence would go away. But what could he do? What could he talk about? He had had conversations with her before, but never in this setting. Never like this! And he knew he needed to say something quickly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a few noblemen trying to make their way towards him. And he knew if they started talking to him, Thornstriker would leave. He had to do something! Anything! But what?!

"Lady Thornstriker-!"

She looked up at him again, titling her head.

"Would-!" He glanced to see the noblemen getting closer. Shit, shit, shit! "Would you dance with me?"

FUCK!

A look of surprise came over her face. Bloodshed could only stand there, doing everything he could to not just blush. Did he seriously just ask her to dance with him?! Yes, in ogre culture, it didn't matter who you danced with, unless the partner was already married. But even then, as long as the spouse was all right it, you could still dance together. But he had no idea how dancing etiquette worked with elves, especially since they were much more reserved and traditional. What the hell made him think jumping the gun and asking one of Queen Eclipse’s ladies-in-waiting was a good idea?!

“All right,” Thornstriker said, a small blush gracing her cheeks. “I-I’d love to.”

Bloodshed’s eyes widened, only able to stare at her for a few moments in disbelief. Here he was, completely convinced he had just jumped the gun and scared the poor elf half to death, and yet… She said yes. That she would… would love to dance. With him of all the people who could have asked her tonight.

He swallowed, trying to keep himself from pushing as he held out his hand for her to take. A shiver went down his spine when she placed her petite hand in his large one, allowing him to guide her to the floor where many others were already dancing. He ignored some of the looks he was getting, instead gently moving his hand to rest at her waist. And when she placed her hand gently on his arm… Primus.

He was so glad that Bombrush and Pixela had forced him to take dancing lessons when he was younger. He had been against them at first, but when he became a teenager, he just begrudgingly accepted them. It made women happy, which made it easier for them to come to him for sex. And when he needed to be professional and dignified, he could carry himself on the dance floor if necessary.

Thank Primus he wouldn’t look like some idiot with two left feet dancing with this beautiful elven noblewoman. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass himself in front of her. Or in front of the people staring at him… which was a lot more than he realized.

But he did his best to just ignore it as they danced together. He was careful, considering he had never had a partner as petite as her before, being mindful to not step on her feet or overpower her. He seemed to be doing all right, considering she was now starting to smile.

Thornstriker glanced up at him before letting out a small giggle.

“What?” he asked, trying to keep himself look neutral when his heart started to race a bit. Fuck, she was just too cute…

“I didn’t think you knew how to dance,” she said. “You don’t seem like the type to care about such things.”

Well, she certainly wasn’t wrong. “My parents had me take lessons. Bombrush… he believes every man should know how to dance and dance well.” Not that he would ever say why he felt that way. Stupid perverted flirt…

“That would certainly explain it,” she giggled. “Your father is an exceptional dancer… I suppose I should have expected the same from you.”

“It’s fine.” As if he wanted people to think he and his father were similar.

But she didn’t say anything else as they continued to dance together. Spinning and twirling alongside other couples on the floor, Bloodshed was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he was actually dancing with her. Thornstriker, a beautiful young elf… willingly dancing with the Captain of the Ogre Guard.

He was still afraid though. So afraid that he would hold her too tightly or step on her foot or move too sharply. She was so small and delicate to him; it was as if one wrong move would break her. Primus, he had never been so afraid to touch a woman before her… 

They turned in their steps and he dared himself a glance at the crowd. His eyes found Novabomb, who was smiling like an idiot and giving him a double thumbs up. If Thornstriker wasn’t looking up at him, he would have rolled his eyes. But just as he was about to look away he almost froze up on the spot when he realized that Novabomb was not the only one looking at him.

He could see his father, who was standing across the room, staring at him with a huge grin on his face. And he was standing with the king and a few other ogres, who looked stunned to see him on the dance floor. And it wasn’t just them either. Other people were looking at him. Whispering to each other with looks of confusion and surprise.

Bloodshed forced himself to look away, to only focus on Thornstriker. He could feel their eyes on his back, a wave of anxiety and even embarrassment coming over him. He knew why they were staring, but it couldn’t have been that big of a deal… He had danced with other women before! No, never had he been the one to ask another to dance, but he had still danced with them. Why? Why did they have to stare at him when he was finally getting a chance to spend time with the woman he liked?!

“I was surprised.”

The voice snapped him out of his thoughts, focusing on the beautiful elf who was looking up at him with a gentle smile.

“I didn’t think you would ever ask me to dance,” she giggled. “I’ve never seen you ask anyone else before.”

He didn’t have an answer for that. He felt stupid for just staring at her, but literally, nothing came to mind to say out loud. So Bloodshed just remained silent to save himself from more embarrassment.  

“But this is much more fun than being a wallflower. Thank you.”

“… Y-You’re welcome,” he murmured, unable to look her in the eye. He could feel his cheeks heat up a bit, but thankfully, she didn’t seem notice.   

Bloodshed took a deep breath to calm himself down. He just needed to focus on Thornstriker. Making sure that she felt comfortable, that he didn’t do anything to hurt her on accident. And thankfully, this dance would last awhile; he knew this song was a longer piece. It would give him plenty of time to enjoy her company. Maybe talk a little more.

And it would give him time to compose himself once they finally had to depart. He knew Novabomb would tease him, which he could handle. Bombrush was a completely different story, but he couldn’t have the man rile him up in front of Thornstriker. And he was certain other people would talk to him about what happened too…

Fuck it, he would get there when he got there. He didn’t want that to take away from this moment right here. He was dancing with this kind, intelligent, beautiful elf and he wasn’t going to let that be ruined for him. Especially since he had no idea when he would be able to hold her like this again, if ever.

So if this would be the only time, he would make it last. 


End file.
